Four years. Five hardware generations. One IRL MMO built for the desert.
The Premise
Alleycat began with a wild idea: eight weeks before our first Neotropolis event, we decided to create a bounty-hunting experience instead of opening a karaoke bar. That decision birthed the Portable Data Node (PDN) — a handheld device that has now gone through five generations, growing from an analog capture-the-flag device into the heart of a full wireless game platform.
Over the years, the PDN became not just a prop, but a platform: a way for players to duel, trade, and invent their own rules in the middle of a cyberpunk desert festival. Alleycat is my laboratory for hardware design, team leadership, and the messy process of bringing open-source technology into the hands of hundreds of players.
Year in Review
Starting in 2025, we began collecting comprehensive game data. At the end of each season, every player gets a personalized stats breakdown — Spotify Wrapped, but for a cyberpunk bounty game.
Our first year gathering comprehensive player and game data. 150 devices. Hundreds of duels. One very detailed spreadsheet.
View 2025 Results →205 devices. 4,149 matches. 666 player registrations across two seasons. The chaos was fully logged.
View 2026 Results →Hardware Evolution
The Platform Year
2026 is the year this really became a platform. We introduced Fixed Data Nodes (FDNs) — hacking boxes hidden throughout the event that players could interact with using their PDNs. We also launched our first multiplayer modes: the Posse mechanic, where PDNs chain together so supporters boost the player at the head of a duel, and the Shootout, where PDNs connect in a ring to run a bracketed single-elimination Quick Draw tournament. We closed the event with a 13-person shootout. Of the 7 FDNs deployed, 5 worked — mostly. Direct sun was rough on those guys.
Refined & Wireless
Lessons from the crisis year applied in full. Construction went from 28 fasteners to 15. Wireless communication opened up entirely new gameplay possibilities at scale. The first year we collected comprehensive game data.
The Crisis Build
A complete redesign with a display and a new enclosure. Our first SMD PCB design — and the year everything that could go wrong did. Late boards, panicked assembly, design flaws at scale. And when the OLED displays arrived from China with a mystery different driver chip, I had to learn how to read IC datasheets in a very short time. We shipped it, but barely.
Going Digital
The first PDN with a microcontroller, assembled from breakout boards and thousands of hand-soldered joints that our team toiled away at. Introduced Quick Draw — a timed duel where two players hit their buttons simultaneously and the faster one wins.
The Data Crypt
An analog device with no firmware — physical interaction only. Built in eight weeks with no prior hardware experience. The mechanic was simple: steal the flag, hold the node.
The Platform Year
2026 is the year this really became a platform. We introduced Fixed Data Nodes (FDNs) — hacking boxes hidden throughout the event that players could interact with using their PDNs. We also launched our first multiplayer modes: the Posse mechanic, where PDNs chain together so supporters boost the player at the head of a duel, and the Shootout, where PDNs connect in a ring to run a bracketed single-elimination Quick Draw tournament. We closed the event with a 13-person shootout. Of the 7 FDNs deployed, 5 worked — mostly. Direct sun was rough on those guys.
Refined & Wireless
Lessons from the crisis year applied in full. Construction went from 28 fasteners to 15. Wireless communication opened up entirely new gameplay possibilities at scale. The first year we collected comprehensive game data.
The Crisis Build
A complete redesign with a display and a new enclosure. Our first SMD PCB design — and the year everything that could go wrong did. Late boards, panicked assembly, design flaws at scale. And when the OLED displays arrived from China with a mystery different driver chip, I had to learn how to read IC datasheets in a very short time. We shipped it, but barely.
Going Digital
The first PDN with a microcontroller, assembled from breakout boards and thousands of hand-soldered joints that our team toiled away at. Introduced Quick Draw — a timed duel where two players hit their buttons simultaneously and the faster one wins.
The Data Crypt
An analog device with no firmware — physical interaction only. Built in eight weeks with no prior hardware experience. The mechanic was simple: steal the flag, hold the node.
An IRL MMO
Alleycat is an attempt to build a living, breathing multiplayer game in physical space, no game master narrating your moves. The Portable Data Node is your character sheet, your weapon, and your inventory all in one.
Emergent Play
The best moments in Alleycat have never been ones we designed. Players invent their own alliances, their own rules for what happens when you lose. The PDN enabled emergent behavior — players weren't limited to what we prescribed. They built their own stories around the hardware. That's the whole point.
The in-world training video for the game, shot on location at the Galac-Tex Intergalactic Headquarters. Directed by Andrea Furedy.